British Telecom to Slash Carbon Footprint by 80%

June 3, 2008

British telecommunications giant, British Telecom, has announced its intention to cut their carbon emissions by an amazing 80% by 2020. It is rare that big companies come out with such clear targets, especially ones this ambitious, so it is no surprise that it the announcement is garnering a lot of attention.

Currently, BT seems right on track to reach their goal. The company is investing $500 million for a wind farm in the UK that will power a quarter of their operations in that company. That is in addition to a 500 KW solar array they have already installed at the American headquarters. This represents the largest investment in renewable energy by a non-utility company in the UK, although we have our fingers crossed that this will be soon passed by others.

These actions but the British company far ahead of its American counterparts who have been much slower to act on reducing their own carbon footprint. We can only hope that this example will spur more action on the other side of the Atlantic. Although if recent history is any sign of things to come, we can assume it will still be quite some time before the rest of the industry catches up with the leader. Look at the examples set by other big companies, including Google or HP, who just launched their own green labeling on some of their products.

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